Domino’s Pizza has said order numbers fell last year as it contended with weaker consumer sentiment and after hiking prices to combat increased labour costs.
The pizza delivery chain nonetheless said 2026 had got off to a good start and it was hoping for a boost from its newer chicken sub-brand.
The company, which has around 1,400 stores in the UK and Ireland, said it received 71.1 million orders for the region during the year – 0.9% less than the year before.
The group’s underlying pre-tax profit fell by 15% to £91.2 million.
System sales, representing total sales made by both its franchised and company-owned stores, however increased by 1.5% to £1.6 billion year on year.
This was driven by a 4% increase in prices, while the volume of sales fell by 2.5%.
Domino’s said its franchisees hiked prices during 2025 largely to offset higher costs caused by employment taxes, after national insurance rates increased.
Domino’s interim chief executive Nicola Frampton said 2025 was a “difficult year for all”, with weaker consumer confidence dragging on its order numbers.
“Franchisees have had to put prices up,” she told the Press Association.
“We’ve worked really hard not to do that but we’ve had some significant incremental cost flow… through the employment changes that came through,” she said, also citing increases to the national minimum wage which added to the group’s wage bill.
“A lot of brands have really pulled back – they’ve either put their prices up massively or they’ve pulled back on their service.
“I think we’ve got the balance right in terms of how we’ve approached it.”
Ms Frampton said the group was mindful of another minimum wage increase coming from April, and changes as part of the Employment Right Acts which will impact staff hours and working patterns.
But it is hoping to mitigate this through more efficient staff scheduling, using artificial intelligence (AI) to help forecast demand, and as food inflation eases this year.
Ms Frampton stepped into the chief executive role after previous boss Andrew Rennie left abruptly, after indicating that the UK pizza market was nearing saturation point, having told the Financial Times there is no “massive growth” left in this category.
In September, Domino’s launched the Chick ‘N’ Dip sub-brand to tap into rapidly growing demand for chicken in the UK, which has now been rolled out nationwide.
Ms Frampton said that, since stepping up to the top job on an interim basis, the “only thing that has fundamentally and significantly changed is that we’re not looking for a second brand”, referring to Mr Rennie’s previous suggestions that it was looking to acquire a second food brand to boost its expansion.
But Ms Frampton said that the idea had been “parked”, as the Chick ‘N’ Dip trial “made us realise that we didn’t need to go and buy a hundred million pound brand in order to be successfully accessing the growing chicken market”.
Meanwhile, Domino’s opened 31 new stores over 2025 and it is aiming for a similar amount of openings in 2026, which the boss said reflects “confidence” in the business and its future.
Ms Frampton also said Domino’s does “care” about the impact of more health-conscious consumers and that it was broadening its product range to cater to people who want “lighter portions” or “lower calorie options”.
Domino’s shares were up by about 5% on Tuesday.
